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Federal task force to investigate potential fraud and misuse of homelessness funding
Tents outside the First Street U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles.
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Photo by Ted Soqui for CalMatters
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Photo by Ted Soqui for CalMatters
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Topline:
A new federal task force will now investigate fraud, waste and corruption involving funds set aside for homelessness in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties.
What it means: U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the Homelessness Fraud and Corruption Task Force will include prosecutors from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and will primarily investigate the misuse of federal dollars allocated for tackling homelessness. The FBI, IRS Criminal Investigation and HUD’s Office of Inspector General will support the task force to review programs receiving federal funding, as well as where private donations are appropriated.
What Essayli is saying: “California has spent more than $24 billion over the past five years to address homelessness,” Essayli said in a statement. “But officials have been unable to account for all the expenditures and outcomes, and the homeless crisis has only gotten worse. Taxpayers deserve answers for where and how their hard-earned money has been spent.”
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How we got here: The U.S. Attorney’s Office cited a searing audit commissioned by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter that found L.A. city officials had made it difficult to track homelessness spending, leading to “an inability to trace substantial funds allocated to the City Programs.” Soon after, L.A. County leaders voted to pull more than $300 million a year in taxpayer funding from the L.A. Homeless Services Authority – or LAHSA – a troubled agency addressing homelessness.
Go deeper:
- 5 takeaways from LA’s troubling new homelessness spending audit
- Judge blasts LA homeless spending as a ‘train wreck’ and threatens to seize control
- Citing incomplete data, LAHSA announces drop in homelessness as county considers taking control of funding
- LA County to strip hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars from homelessness agency
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